Lane claims second-day lead during 2012 Classic

Top 25 finish out Bassmaster championship tomorrow.

SPECIAL REPORT FROM WWW.BASSMASTER.COM February 25, 2012 at 9:50pm

Florida's Chris Lane abandoned the area he fished on the first day of the 2012 Bassmaster Classic, locked down one pool and proceeded to put together a 19-pound, 4-ounce stringer that boosted him into the top spot going into the final day of championship competition.

"Today was plan B, and tomorrow is plan C," Lane said. "I'm going to try to take plan A and Plan B, and come up with plan C."

Lane's sack of bass today pushed his total to 35 1/2 pounds, exactly 1 pound more than second-place Greg Vinson.

Texas' Alton Jones jumped from third to 16th with a 17-14 bag today for a 31-11 total, while Chris Lane's brother Bobby goes into the final day of the championship in fourth with a 30-pound, 12-ounce total.

The field was cut to the top 25 anglers for Sunday's competition for the $500,000 first prize and prestigious Classic crown.

Chris Lane said he changed locations, line size, lures, weights - almost everything for today's round. He chose his new spot and made a commitment to not abandon it until he had given it at least a two-hour chance to produce. He had to work it for over an hour and a half before he got his first fish of about 2 1/2 pounds.

"I stayed focused. I had confidence the decision I had made was right. I stuck it out," Lane said.

But once the area heated up, it was game on for Lane.

"Catching that fish sat me down, sunk me in and told me it was time to get to work," he said.

Lane's been living by a philosophy that he says has changed his fishing and his life. He's ceased to listen to what others tell him he should or shouldn't do. He's learned to trust his instincts.

"It's like a clock that was broken starts to tick again," Lane said. "I seem to be at a place now where my clock is working."

Lane completed the 2011 Bassmaster Elite Series season ranked 12th in points. He followed that by winning the first Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open of the 2012 season, which was on the Harris Chain in his native Florida in late January.

For Vinson, a 4-pounder in the final minutes of Saturday's fishing time guaranteed he'd be in direct contention for the Classic crown on Sunday. The big bass gave him a cull that boosted his weight by about 1 1/2 pounds, he said.

"I had pretty much resigned myself to accepting that the weight I had would be it for the day," said Vinson, who, like Chris Lane, is competing in his second world championship of bass fishing.

Also like Lane, Vinson had to sweat it out in slick, sunny conditions, a marked difference from the first day of competition under cloudy skies and in a brisk wind. But the overnight drop in air temperatures Friday wasn't enough to spoil much for any of the 49 Classic competitors on Saturday. Most are fishing in backwaters where the bass are either in pre-spawn mode or actually on the beds.

Vinson worked his backwater area hard on Saturday. One of the bass in his day's bag was a fish he'd tried for Friday.

"When I got back to the spot and made a cast to it, I saw it make a boil - just like it did yesterday - but it came to eat my bait, and I ended up catching it," Vinson said.

For Jones, access to his backwater was dicey. The water's he's fishing is so skinny that he was in danger of being stuck when the water level dropped slightly while he was in the backwater.

"An inch makes a difference," he said.

He said he made an adjustment for the second day out that made all the difference. He didn't change areas, but his presentation.

"Once I figured out how to catch the big ones, it was an 'ah-ha!' - but it was mid to late morning before that happened," Jones said.

He came out early to be sure he was okay on his time. The move paid off when he caught a 3-pounder in his secondary spot.

"That gave me another really nice cull late in the day. It was one of those days when everything worked. I felt really blessed out there today," he said.

That was about 10 a.m., when he caught a 4-pounder. He was able to duplicate his pattern, even when moving to another area to leave some bass for Sunday.

The anglers will leave Red River South Marina at 7 a.m. Sunday. They'll bring their catches to CenturyLink Center, where doors will open for fans at 3 p.m.

All activities surrounding the Bassmaster Classic are free and open to the public.